Telecom Rapidly Expands 4G Network across New Zealand

Telecom announced today it will
continue to rapidly expand its 4G network across the
country.

Telecom has announced that it will be
bringing 4G technology to Dunedin, Rotorua, Blenheim and
Nelson by September 2014. This follows on from the weekend
launch of the fast mobile technology in Rangiora, Rolleston
and Lincoln.

Telecom Retail CEO Chris Quin says more than
a hundred additional 4G sites will go live before the end of
the year.

“If you’re a Telecom customer living in
Rangiora or Rolleston and you have a 4G-capable phone,
you’re likely to see a boost in speed when you’re in one
of our new 4G areas.

“As more people begin to use smart
devices for things like watching video, downloading books,
uploading photos and getting the most out of your music on
Spotify, data speeds are going to become more and more
important. 4G will allow you to do all these things in
seconds, and we think these faster speeds will quickly
become the “new normal” for New Zealanders, just as 3G
speeds did when they were introduced a few years
ago.”

Telecom recently revealed over 60% of its customer
base owns a smartphone, and the average monthly data use for
mobile customers on both 3G and 4G has grown by 52% over the
past year.

“Once you arrive at that sort of tipping
point you start to see a real change in behaviour. In
particular, we’re seeing a lot more uploading of data –
often driven by people posting photos or videos to social
media to share their experiences with friends. This is a big
change from the past when the pattern was very much
customers downloading data, as you do when you open an
image-rich website or access social media applications.
During major events, such as the Bruce Springsteen concert
in Auckland, we’ve seen uploads actually exceed downloads
for the first time,” says Mr Quin.

“We want to unleash
New Zealanders’ potential by giving them access to the
technology they need to get on and do more. Our 4G rollout
is a crucial part of this.”

Mr Quin says that so far
Telecom customers who regular use the 4G network generally
did not dramatically increase their data consumption.
However, anyone concerned about going over their data
allowance could track their usage over the MyTelecom portal
or Telecom’s smartphone app. They can also use the
smartphone app to top up their account or save their
precious data by using Telecom’s WiFi network.

Telecom
currently offer a wide range of 4G-capable devices including
the recently launched Samsung GALAXY S5.

To access Telecom
4G, customers need to be in a 4G coverage area and have a
4G-capable phone. 4G devices will seamlessly switch to
Telecom’s 3G mobile network when customers leave the 4G
coverage area.

Telecom
4G coverage will initially use the 1800MHz spectrum, until
the 700MHz spectrum becomes available later this year. To
date, the economics of bringing fast mobile services to
areas outside of the New Zealand main centres have been
challenging, but the reallocation of the 700MHz spectrum
will speed up the roll-out of these essential services
significantly. The 700MHz spectrum delivers greater reach
compared to other frequencies, making it more efficient to
build and ideally suited for delivering 4G services in
regional areas.

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